Search Help

How does this work?
There are many ways to search the collections of the Freedom Archives. Below is a brief guide that will help you conduct effective searches. Note, anytime you search for anything in the Freedom Archives, the first results that appear will be our digitized items. Information for items that have yet to be scanned or yet to be digitized can still be viewed, but only by clicking on the show link that will display the hidden (non-digitized) items. If you are interested in accessing these non-digitized materials, please email info@freedomarchives.org.
Exploring the Collections without the Search Bar
Under the heading Browse By Collection, you’ll notice most of the Freedom Archives’ major collections. These collections have an image as well as a short description of what you’ll find in that collection. Click on that image to instantly explore that specific collection.
Basic Searching
You can always type what you’re looking for into the search bar. Certain searches may generate hundreds of results, so sometimes it will help to use quotation marks to help narrow down your results. For instance, searching for the phrase Black Liberation will generate all of our holdings that contain the words Black and Liberation, while searching for “Black Liberation” (in quotation marks) will only generate our records that have those two words next to each other.
Advanced Searching
The Freedom Archives search site also understands Boolean search logic. Click on this link for a brief tutorial on how to use Boolean search logic. Our search function also understands “fuzzy searches.” Fuzzy searches utilize the (*) and will find matches even when users misspell words or enter in only partial words for the search. For example, searching for liber* will produce results for liberation/liberate/liberates/etc.
Keyword Searches
You’ll notice that under the heading KEYWORDS, there are a number of words, phrases or names that describe content. Sometimes these are also called “tags.” Clicking on these words is essentially the same as conducting a basic search.

Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials

Documents

MANDELA: Free at Last MANDELA: Free at Last
Date: 1/1/1990Call Number: V 003Format: VHSProducers: Rory O’Connor, Danny SchechterCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
A documentary about South Africa, apartheid, Nelson Mandela and his role in the liberation of South Africa.
Ghosts of Attica (Finecut) Ghosts of Attica (Finecut)
Date: 1/1/2001Call Number: V 034Format: VHSProducers: David Van Taylor, Brad Lichtenstein, Lumier ProductionsCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
GHOSTS OF ATTICA offers the definitive account of America's most violent prison rebellion, its suppression, and the days of torture that ensued. Using exclusive, newly uncovered video of the assault, interviews with eyewitnesses who've never spoken before on-camera, and footage of inmates and hostages throughout their battles against the state, this film unravels one of America's deepest cover-ups, and shows how the legendary prison riot transformed the lives of its survivors. This stirring documentary features extensive interviews with Attica survivors, including former inmate Frank "Big Black" Smith, Mike Smith, who was a guard who was taken hostage and subsequently wounded by police fire, and Elizabeth Fink, the attorney who headed the inmates' decades-long legal battles against New York State. Other interviews include those with New York Times columnist Tom Wicker, Congressman Herman Badillo, Assemblyman Arthur Eve, and civil rights lawyer William Kunstler.
Nelson Mandela Released Nelson Mandela Released
Call Number: V 365Format: VHSProgram: CBS News Sunday Morning, PBS The Macneil Lehere News HourCollection: Videos in many formats – both camera originals as well as reference materials
CBS news coverage of Nelson Mandela's release from Victor Verster Prison in South Africa and interviews of supporters. Brief material with Pete Seeger singing about freedom. German Reunification.